Daily Brief-Henderson County Now

Daily Brief: Monday, Jan. 21

Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day AND happy Inauguration Day.

The Henderson County Black Rodeo Association held a well-attended parade Saturday. See photos from the event here.

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DON’T FORGET: The Henderson County Black History Committee will be hosting its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Candlelight Vigil tonight in Malakoff starting at 7 p.m.

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Congratulations to Bill Hunt of Texas Ragtime Inc. on being named the Athens Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year at the chamber banquet last Friday night.

You can find a list of the other award winners here, as well as our Facebook photo album with pictures from the event here.

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Not everything this weekend was happy. Sunday night, a candlelight service was held at Malakoff High School in honor of Jamiya Givens Williams and her daughter, Alahna Williams. who were killed in a car accident Sunday, Jan. 13.

We were there for the vigil.

Funeral services were set for today at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church on Mitcham Street in Malakoff under the direction of Huckabee/Tomlinson Funeral Home, Malakoff.

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Rich Flowers over at the Review has the first interview with new Athens City Council member Monte Montgomery. Mr. Montgomery took Mayor Jerry Don Vaught’s spot when Mr. Vaught became mayor.

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Average retail gasoline prices in Texas have fallen 2.0 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.14/g yesterday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 13,114 gas outlets in Texas. This compares with the national average that has increased 0.7 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.26/g, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.

Including the change in gas prices in Texas during the past week, prices yesterday were 9.7 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 10.9 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has increased 1.9 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 8.9 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.

Daily Brief: The Top 5 Stories of the Week

State Rep. Jim Pitts files House Bill 1, the base budget bill, Tuesday.

Story No. 1 – Eustace fires police chief: The Eustace City Council terminated Troy Tucker Monday night in a 3-2 vote.
Why it is important: Community and council members credit Tucker with helping to clean up the area’s drug problem.
Learn more: We were there, and here’s the story.

Story No. 2 – Malakoff girl, daughter dies: The Malakoff community mourned this week following the death of Jamiya Givens Williams and her infant daughter, Alahna, Sunday night in a car accident.
Why it is important: Jamiya, 16, was a well-loved member of the community and her death hit Malakoff High School hard. A candlelight vigil is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday at the Malakoff High School football field.
Learn more: The Athens Review talked to the DPS.

Story No. 3 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day events: There are plenty of local events scheduled to celebrate MLK Day.
Why it is important: Dr. King stood for justice, and we can still use justice these days.
Learn more: A parade is scheduled for Saturday, as well as a Gospel Explosion. A candlelight vigil will be held Monday night.

Story No. 4 – County to get an armored car: The Henderson County Commissioners’ Court approved the purchase of an armored vehicle for the Sheriff’s Department.
Why it is important: Because our Sheriff’s Department has engaged in plenty of dangerous situations.
Learn more: Eric Walsh over at The Malakoff News has a story.

Story No. 5 – Milburn Chaney’s collection: County Tax Collector Milburn Chaney has a very cool collection of sports autographs.
Why it is important: We’re not sure we’d say it’s important, but it sure is cool.
Learn more: Thanks to the Tyler Paper for bringing us the story.

Morning Brief: Wednesday, Jan. 16

In the photo above, State Rep. Jim Pitts, who now represents parts of Cedar Creek Lake, files House Bill 1, the base budget bill, Tuesday in Austin. (COURTESY PHOTO)

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While we are talking about the Legislature, Rep. Lance Gooden has filed several resolutions, including a couple about Henderson County folks.

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What are you going to do for the National Day of Service this Saturday? We asked our Facebook community, and looks like the Family Peace Project could use some help.

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Thank you to Kevin and Jeaneane Lilly for their $10,000 donation to the Athens Splash Pad project. The Athens Review has a photo.

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Don’t forget, the Athens Chamber of Commerce Banquet is this Friday night. There’s still time to get tickets.

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From the TVCC Facebook page:

The Cardinal Sports Network will webcast tonight’s Region XIV Conference Doubleheader at Cardinal Gym between the Lady Cardinals, Cardinals and Kilgore College. Sports Information Officer Benny Rogers and President Dr. Glendon Forgey will handle the play by play and commentary. Watch all the action starting at 5:20 p.m.

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TWITTER USERS: If you see something newsworthy (or interesting or fun) in the county, tag it #hctnow.

FOR NON TWITTER USERS: What the above means is that any tweet with the tag #hctnow can be gathered into one list … so you could conceivably track that one tag and get information from Seven Points to Chandler.

Daily Brief: Jan. 14

Ornament and money found at the door to the Henderson County Courthouse this morning. (MICHAEL V. HANNIGAN PHOTO)

Folks arriving for work at the Henderson County Courthouse this morning made an interesting discovery. Sitting by the door were two $1 bills and a beautiful “Noel” Christmas ornament.

Nobody knows who left the gift or why, but considering the controversy the past two Christmases, it seems at least possible that it is connected to the nativity scene.

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Our hearts are heavy today and our prayers are with the staff and students at Malakoff High School. One of the students at the school was killed in a car accident near Crandall last night.

Jamiya (Givens) Williams and her infant daughter, Alahna, were both killed in the accident.

Officials at Malakoff High School reported that grief counselors were on hand today for those students who needed them.

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It was cold this morning and it looks like it is going to stay that way through the first part of the week.

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Average retail gasoline prices in Texas have fallen 0.5 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.16/g yesterday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 13,114 gas outlets in Texas. This compares with the national average that has fallen 0.6 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.26/g, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.

Including the change in gas prices in Texas during the past week, prices yesterday were 4.4 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 12.7 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has decreased 1.4 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 8.7 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.

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The City of Eustace will be holding a called meeting tonight to discuss the firing of Police Chief Troy Tucker. The meeting will be 7 p.m. in the Eustace Municipal Court.

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The City of Athens will also be holding a meeting tonight, 5:30 p.m. in the City Council chambers. The agenda looks to be fairly routine.

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Loretta Humble’s “Around the Town” Facebook page has a cool photo spread about recent improvements to the historic Bartlett House.

In the photo, Cheryl Kietscheraski points out some of the work she’s done with the help of her brother, Dennis Haws, and bricklayer Billy Gray.

Daily Brief: Wednesday, Jan. 9

Rain, rain go away
Come again some other day

Actually, the rain is a good thing for Henderson County. We’ve seen way too much of drought in recent years. Still, when the rain comes down like it did last night — and the way it is forecast for today — that children’s song always comes to mind.

I checked, and that little phrase goes back at least to the 17th century… and a version of it has been around all the way back to Ancient Greece.

So remember to take your umbrella today, and when you unconsciously hum “rain, rain” under your breath you will know you are singing the hits from the 1600s.

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The Legislature convened yesterday amid declarations of being different than Washington, D.C.

Here at HCTNow, we had a story about State Rep. Jim Pitts filing legislation to extend the no-cellphone-while-driving-in-a-school-zone rule to the entire school property for elementary and middle schools.

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The Athens City Council will be holding its “regular” special meeting today at 11:30 a.m. The council nearly always holds a special meeting the Wednesday afternoon before their Monday night regular meeting.

I used to be bothered by the pre-meeting meeting, but I have since changed my mind. Now I think it is pretty smart. On Wednesday, council members get to learn about what they will vote on Monday night, giving them several days to think about the issue. The setup also gives citizens several extra days to learn what the council is doing.

And with one meeting in the afternoon and one at night, a broader spectrum of citizens have the opportunity to see their council in action.

I call it a win-win.

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The county has lowered the speed limit on Mill Run Road from 60 mph all the way down to 35 mph. We applaud the change — we’re all for safety.

Rich Flowers over at the Review has a good story about the change.

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Keep dry out there … and if you are one of the fans following the TVCC basketball teams to Brenham for their games against Blinn tonight: Be Careful!

UPDATE: TVCC has announced it will stream tonight’s games live online.